Magical Girl Heavy Dependence

Chapter 98, The Secret Team

(Chapter 96 has been slightly modified, but it does not affect reading.)

dong dong.

"Please come in."

Yan Xi pushed open the carved wooden door and stepped into the dimly lit bar.

An old-fashioned record player in the corner played soothing music, and the solid wood bar counter gleamed warmly under the yellow overhead light. There was no bartender, but there was Jiang Fei sitting at the bar, unable to suppress her melancholy and sorrow.

She hesitated for a moment at the door, but still steeled herself and stepped closer, saying, "President."

"Dark Crow, over here."

Jiang Fei immediately turned around.

She leaned slumped against the bar, her long, slender fingers casually holding a cookie stick as if it were a cigarette, while her other hand listlessly swirled a glass of spirits filled with ice. But what was in that glass... cola?

For a moment, Yan Xi had the illusion that she had stumbled into a game of make-believe played by grown-ups.

Two other people were sitting next to Jiang Fei.

The person on the left is wearing a pure white dress, and even indoors, she still wears an elegant beret at an angle, exuding a cool and aloof aura; the person on the right is wearing a khaki short jacket, with a perfectly sized inner layer that exposes her slender waistline without any attempt to conceal it.

"Oh, you're here?"

The woman in the jacket turned around first and greeted them.

The woman in the white dress turned her head slightly and gave her a cold look as a greeting.

Upon seeing their faces, Yan Xi's expression immediately fell: "What are you doing here?"

The woman in the jacket is Gui Lingtan, and the woman in the white dress is Du Lingyi.

Judging from their posture, these two had obviously been here for a while.

"Cirsium is now my trainee, and Lingxia is a fashion consultant I specially invited," Jiang Fei declared confidently. "From today onwards, you will form a secret team to carry out a major mission concerning the survival of the world."

Three questions.

Yan Xi put on a stern face and unceremoniously raised three fingers, having completely lost any respect for Jiang Fei.

"First, why a bar? The company has so many empty practice rooms, why find this place outside?"

"A secret mission must be kept secret, of course. How can we hold the rendezvous at the company?"

Jiang Fei replied, then lowered her eyelids slightly, and stretched out her hand with feigned profundity, her fingertips tracing the smooth solid wood bar counter. "As for why I chose this place... it's because this is where all the crises began. It was because of my mistake in this spot that what should have been a happy ending turned into a dangerous situation where we are now just one step away from utter ruin."

"If I fail here, I'll make up for it here. I'm going to take back everything I deserve."

Yan Xi's lips twitched, and she said coldly, "Speak like a human being."

"I almost kissed him here that day!"

Jiang Fei began to go crazy and frantic. "Didn't the sages carve the character 'early' on their desks to remind themselves to study hard? I deliberately chose this place of heartbreak and despair to emulate the sages, to constantly reflect on myself, and never repeat the same mistakes."

The scene was deathly silent.

Gui Lingtan narrowed her fox-like eyes, clapped her hands lightly in a show of support, and then picked up her glass to take a small sip. The glass contained wine, not the children's drink that Jiang Fei had been drinking.

Du Lingyi remained expressionless, her eyes glued to the comic on her phone screen, without even looking up.

Yan Xi sighed and continued, "Secondly, I haven't heard that either of them is going to join."

"I told you, didn't I? I'd arrange a strategist for you." Jiang Fei put her arm around Gui Lingtan's shoulder. "She's the one I was talking about! And Little Rose will be your partner, fighting alongside you on the stage of the ten-school joint performance!"

"Let's cheer each other on, Yaya!"

Gui Lingtan blew a kiss with one hand.

"I think if the goal is to win the ten-school joint performance, my chances of winning will be greater if I perform solo." Du Lingyi finally put down her phone, glanced at Yan Xi with a calm expression, "But if the senior insists that I carry this idiot, I will accept."

"What do you mean you're going to carry me!" Yan Xi immediately became unhappy.

Du Lingyi calmly replied, "Just think of it as encountering the ELO system's punishment in a game; you're bound to be matched with some incompetent teammates. Some people might complain, but I won't. I'll try my best to carry those incompetent teammates to victory. Perseverance despite difficulties is professional spirit."

"Okay, stop!"

Although Jiang Fei acted as a peacemaker, her expression clearly showed that she was quite satisfied with Du Lingyi's words.

She looked at Yan Xi and encouraged her, "What's the third question?"

"Third..." Yan Xi opened her mouth, then suddenly deflated, "Never mind, forget I said anything."

She took a few steps forward, snatched the cola from Jiang Fei's hand, and drank it all in one gulp.

Then, adopting a "what's the use" attitude, she said, "Tell me your detailed plan, how exactly you're going to do it? How to participate in the ten-school joint performance, how to win the championship, and in the end..." She glanced at Gui Lingtan and Du Lingyi, then hesitated.

"How do you finally win back the producer's heart?"

Gui Lingtan finished her sentence for her, her smile growing even wider.

"Don't worry, I'm a master at keeping secrets. I definitely won't tell anyone!"

"Guys who say things like that usually end up being the ones who leak information!"

Yan Xi glared at her and questioned Jiang Fei, "Are you really going to let her join? Can't you find any other replacements in the company?"

"Although Lingxia is just like you, a bottom-ranked trainee in the company, she has a superpower in this matter that no one else can replace." Jiang Fei refilled her cola and poured one for Yan Xi as well.

"What superpower?" Yan Xi asked coldly.

"Super rich."

Gui Lingtan smiled and answered proactively, "My dad is a major shareholder of 'Dongling Family,' and my mom is the former exclusive model and chief designer of 'Champs-Élysées.' We're rich, have great fashion sense, and know how to dress up Cinderella as Snow White. Yinfu Entertainment is the perfect fit for me."

"Lingxia's parents are also among the largest investors in Yinfu Entertainment."

Jiang Fei added, "She kept telling me to hide her identity and treat her as an ordinary trainee... In fact, the company's trainee program was meaningless to her, and she had already met all the debut standards. It was just because she liked to tease others that nothing came of it."

Yan Xi shuddered at Gui Lingtan's fox-like smile and angrily rebuked:

"The look on her face right now, is she planning to toy with me? If she knows her flaws, she shouldn't expose them to harm others!"

Jiang Fei crossed her arms, her expression righteous and resolute: "This is a necessary sacrifice."

"Necessary my ass! I'm the one sacrificing, not you!"

Yan Xi took two steps back, moving away from Gui Lingtan.

"Painting Crow." Jiang Fei's expression suddenly turned serious. "I won't force you. You have a choice. If you have any concerns, you can withdraw now."

Hearing this, Yan Xi became even more determined.

She took one last deep look at Gui Lingtan, whose lips were still curved in a smile, and shook her head: "I won't back down."

I'm not trying to take anything back; I just want the producer to see my progress and hard work. If I back down before even trying, wouldn't all my previous determination be a joke?

A stunningly talented figure in cyan flashed through her mind.

Yan Xi clenched his fist secretly.

I, Huiya, am no less than that guy!

"very good!"

Gui Lingtan nodded in satisfaction and clapped her hands crisply twice.

Two female bodyguards suddenly appeared out of nowhere and blocked the bar door with a loud bang.

Immediately afterwards, two more seamstresses, one clutching a measuring tape and the other a camera, silently emerged from behind the bar, sharpening their knives and approaching Yan Xi menacingly.

Yan Xi unconsciously took a half step back and questioned, "What...what are you doing?"

"I'll take your measurements and make you new clothes."

Gui Lingtan answered with an expectant tone, then smiled and brazenly looked Yan Xi up and down: "Now, take it off."

"ha!?"

Yan Xi stared wide-eyed in horror.

……